This is the Wartrader, broadcasting loud and clear across the Human Sphere!

I'm here to tell you about the scum of the earth. Manhunters and AI-hunters alike, the so-called 'Authorised' Bounty Hunters.

Sforza? Now he's the worst - a Bounty Hunter who specialises in hunting down and killing 'rogue' AIs. He's a stone-cold killer who refuses to accept that AIs other than ALEPH have any right to exist.

Ashcroft isn't much better, with her lah-di-dah attitude. I mean, who the heck wears a party frock on an op? Bloody English aristocracy, no wonder she's considered the black sheep of the family!

Authorised Bounty Hunters for Newbies

ABHs (Do you really think it's coincidence that this also stands for Actual Bodily Harm?) are a unique troop type in Infinity. Unlike normal mercenary units they can be taken by any Human vanilla faction (i.e. not the Sectorial sub-factions, the alien Tohaa or the alien Combined Army) even in official tournaments. The Yu Jing Imperial Service is the only Sectorial list able to take them.

So what do they add? Well, being Irregular, one thing they don't do is add any Orders to the order Pool for everyone else to use. On the other hand, if they go down then nobody else is losing Orders.

What ABHs add is Booty level 2.

Booty for Newbies

Booty represents troopers that like to dig around on the battlefield looking for goodies or who like wheeling and dealing to customise their kit. It gives the model a roll on a random equipment chart at the start of the game. The first level (for units like Irmandhinos or Yuan Yuan) includes useful stuff like Grenades, Monofilament CCWs (think: lightsabre) and flamethrowers.

Booty level 2 is a different beast again - although there are some slightly average results like +1 armour, there are some really juicy results too, like a Motorcycle, Optical Disruption Device or even an HMG!

So to come back to the ABH, what they add is a random extra capability - a Motorcycle trooper for not much more than a basic line trooper or an HMG without paying any support cost is a big boon in a game. Whether you see this as a boon or a hindrance is very much up to your play style - if you're an oldskool Ork player you'll know exactly what I mean!

So, on to N3. Corvus Belli's last few limited edition models have all been slender females. With the LE ABH this has changed rather drastically - representing a +3 or +4 armour bonus this is an ABH who has begged, borrowed or stolen some armour from a Nomad Mobile Brigada, and boy is he beefy.

So what's your favourite Booty roll?

Upcoming Events

By the way, for players looking forward to N3 I have two upcoming events down in Exeter:

The 2014 Autumn Challenge 'Preparation for N3' on November 29-30th.
The 2015 Winter Challenge 'N3 Is Go!' on January 24-25th with N3 demos and tutorials, a seminar on moving from N2 to N3 and one of the first N3 tournaments in the UK!

Both events are being supported by Antenociti's Workshop, Corvus Belli (the company behind Infinity!) and Micro Art Studio.

Authorised Bounty Hunter painted by Studio Giraldez

Ian Wood aka @wartrader

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